Shirt front closure



May 31, 1955 F. N. MAsoN SHIRT FRONT CLOSURE Filed Aug. 17, 1954 United States Patent SHIRT FRONT CLOSURE Frank N. Mason, Charleroi, Pa., assignor of one-fourth to Albert K. Cohen, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application August 17, 1954, Serial No. 450,322

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-128) This invention relates to shirts, and more particularly to the manner in which the front openings are closed.

A mans conventional shirt has front panels provided along their inner edges with overlapping inner and outer facings that form a front opening. Buttons are sewed at intervals to the inner facing, and the outer facing is provided with button holes to receive them. There are two big objections to buttons. One is that they come off and must be sewed back on. The other objection is that they interfere with ironing of the shirt after it has been washed.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a shirt which has a front opening that is free, or substantially free, of buttons, and which has easily applied closure means that present no ironing problems and that will stay in place.

In accordance with this invention, a tape is attached at its edges to the inner surface of the outer facing of a shirt at its front opening and extends lengthwise along it. Attached to the inner facing is a moderately stiff strip which has free tongues projecting from its opposite ends lengthwise along the outer surface of that facing. The tape is provided with a pair of transverse slits positioned to receive the tongues to hold the facings together and the front opening closed. In a dress shirt, the upper ends of the facings may be connected by a button and buttonhole at the collar.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a fragmentary front view of a shirt that is partly open; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a mans conventional shirt has the usual front opening formed by overlapping inner and outer facings 1 and 2 along the inner edges of the two front panels 3 and 4 of the shirt. The word facings is used herein to designate the overlapping marginal portions of the two panels, regardless of whether or not they actually are faced. The upper ends of the two facings are joined to the ends of the collar band 6, which is provided with the usual button 7 and buttonhole 8 for closing the collar. It is a feature of this invention that the rest of the front of the shirt is free of buttons and buttonholes.

Accordingly, a fabric tape 10 of any suitable material is attached, such as by the facing stitching 11, to the inner surface of outer facing 2 and extends from a point near the collar down as far as buttons ordinarily would extend. Attached to the outer surface of the inner facing 1, such as by stitching 12, is a plurality of vertically spaced, short, vertical closure strips 13. Only the central portion of each strip is sewed to the facing, the narrower opposite ends of the strip being left free to form tongues 14 that project in opposite directions along the inner facings. Each tongue should be about one-half inch long and have its outer end portion tapered. These closure strips are made of a moderately stiff material, by which is meant a material that is stiff enough to always tend to lie flat and extend out straight but not so stiff as to prevent it from being flexed if a small amount of pressure is applied to it. Such a material can be a synthetic plastic, or a treated fabric such as dress belt backing.

The tape 10 in front of the closure strips is provided at vertically spaced points with transverse slits 16, each of which preferably is located in front of the base or inner end of the tongue 14 behind it. In other words, the slits are arranged in pairs and are substantially the same distance apart as the inner ends of the tongues behind the slits. The length of each slit is the same as or slightly greater than the width of a tongue, so that the slits can receive the tongues.

The front of the shirt is closed or buttoned by inserting the tongues 14 in the slits in front of them, as shown in Fig. 2. The tongues then Will extend for their full length vertically between the tape and the inner surface of the front facing, and the portions of that facing between the tongues on each strip will be stretched smooth. With the tongues on each closure strip extending in opposite directions into a pair of tape slits, the strips will be held against the tape and the front opening will be held closed until the outer facing is pulled forward deliberately to bend the tongues and strips sntiicienly to allow the tape to be pulled off the tongues. The closure strips will then straighten out again.

The shirt front closure just described eliminates all front buttons except the button at the collar, which on some sport shirts would not be used anyway. The tongues 14 can be quickly and easily inserted in the tape slits and the two facings will then lie flat against each other to close the front of the shirt. Yet, if desired, the facings between the closure strips can be separated in order to receive a tie clasp or to tuck in the end of a necktie. The tape and closure strips can be sewed to the rest of the shirt by a sewing machine. When the shirt is laundered there are no buttons down the front to interfere with ironing. The tape and closure strips are ironed flat against the facings, providing the front of the shirt with a very neat appearance.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claim, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

A shirt having overlapping inner and outer facings forming a front opening, a plurality of vertically spaced and moderately stitf vertical closure strips attached to the outer surface of the inner facing and each provided with free tongues extending from its opposite ends vertically along the inner facing, and a flexible vertical tape attached at its edges to the inner surface of the outer facing, said tape being provided with a plurality of vertically spaced transverse slits positioned to receive said tongues to hold said facings together and said open ing closed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,632,898 Hughson June 21, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS 854,631 Germany Nov. 6, 1952 

